Bratton To Push For Swift Stop-And-Frisk Reforms

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 05: Bill Bratton, who has been named to lead the New York Police Department, pauses after being introduced by New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio on December 5, 2013 in New York City. Bratton was police commissioner in New York in the mid-1990s and had been considered a front-runner for the job, He will return to a city that is experiencing historically low crime rates. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Speaking to a room full of crime reporters from around the country, Bratton stressed revising the controversial practice quickly.

“I think that we finally see a light at the end of the tunnel,” commissioner Bill Bratton told crime reporters from around the nation. “There are very distinct lanes in the road and guard rails in terms of how we must operate.”

“It has contributed to concerns about the stability of the economy, concerns about going back to the bad old days,” said Bratton. “So that the concerns and the fears, whether it’s the business community or any of the communities in the city can be very quickly addressed because it cannot move forward economically if it is seen as a city going into decline, if it is seen as a city that is increasingly becoming unsafe.”

Bratton said there has been an overuse of stop-and-frisk and noted that it hasn’t directly correlated to safer streets.

“Even though stops are down considerably this year, overall crime so far is also down,” said the commissioner.